Kamal Maula Mosque
The Kamāl Maula Mosque, also called the Bhoj Shala, is a mosque in the city of Dhar, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India.Overview
Otherwise known as the Bhoj Shala, the building is a List of [Monuments of National Importance in Madhya Pradesh/West|Monument of National Importance] under the Archaeological Survey of India. Set in the centre of the old town, the building's ownership and use is disputed and notionally claimed by both Muslims and Hindus, although the Republic of India has ultimate authority and jurisdiction over it. The ASI permits worship by Hindus on Tuesday and Muslims on Friday for two hours each week. Additionally, the site is open for worship on Vasant Panchami to Sarasvatī. When festivals coincide, there have been communal tensions, requiring a police presence to keep the peace. The rules set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules 1959, published in The Gazette of India, govern day-to-day operations, with the Places of Worship Act, 1991 also assisting with the management and administration of the site.Location and history
The monument is in the middle of the medieval circular city of Dhar, likely built by the Paramara dynasty from the 10th century. The city was long one of the capitals of Malwa and the seat of the provincial government in later centuries, becoming the Maratha capital of the Powars in the 18th century. A prominent centre of education, manuscripts compilation, exchange and cattle trading, it also seems to have been a centre of metallurgy, as suggested by the name Dhārānagara and the iron pillar found there. After a number of wars between the Yadavas, Solankis and Paramaras, during which Dhar was repeatedly sacked and burned, Malwa came part of the Delhi Sultanate in opening years of the 14th century under Ayn al-Mulk Multani. The Kamāl Maula was put up soon after, but the exact year is unknown. An inscription found beside the building dated 1392-93 describes repairs by Dilāwar Khān, the then governor. At some stage after the death of Chishti Sufi saint Kamal-al-Din in about 1331 CE, his tomb was placed next to the mosque and the building came to be known as Kamāl Maula mosque. This suggests the building was constructed shortly after 1304-05 and before 1331.Architecture
The building has numerous sandstone pillars of varying design, with most of these appearing to date to the 12th and 13th centuries. The pillars were not simply re-cycled, but put one on top of the other to raise the height of the ceiling. This follows the building practices seen at Ajmer and the Qutb complex in Delhi. In various places, domes of trabeate construction, decorated with intricate cusping and lotus forms, have been added. The mihrab and minbar are later in date, added in the late 1300s by Dilawar Khan, the first king of Mandu under the Malwa Sultanate. Moreover, the building contains a range of stone panels with Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions collected from different places and installed on the walls and floors, apparently assembled for display in medieval times rather like a modern museum. These include tablets with the Sanskrit sound system and rules of grammar set out in diagrams. According to the inscriptions on them, they date to the time of Naravarman. A square tank is located in the middle of the courtyard. Ernest Barnes, the one time political agent, regarded the tank as a modern addition and sought its removal.Connections with the goddess of learning
Charles E. Luard's Gazetteer of 1908 tells us the building was being called the Bhoj Shala or the Raja Bhoja school or madrasa. This was based on the geometric drawings and other learned inscriptions found at the site by K. K. Lele, the Superintendent of State Education and head of the archaeology department in Dhār State. Despite the association with learning, the location has not yielded a statue of the goddess of learning or Sarasvatī. A damaged Jaina statue of Ambikā, mistakenly identified as Sarasvatī for a number of years, was found on the site of the Old City Palace in 1875. The inscription on the pedestal, mentions a statue of Vāgdevī, showing that the Sarasvatī at Dhār was the Jain form of this goddess. This is confirmed by the Prabandhacintāmaṇi of Merutunga, a text of the early 1300s, that records how the Jain savant Dhanapāla showed king Bhoja tablets engraved with his poem to Adinātha at the entrance to the temple of Sarasvatī at Dhār.Communal claims
The building has been the focus of communal claims since the time of Lele's discoveries. In response to earlier agitation, the Diwan of Dhar State issued an order stating that the building was a mosque in 1935. More recently, in 2024, claims about the building reached the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and Justices S. A. Dharmadhikari and Devnarayan Mishra instructed that a study is necessary to “demystify” the nature of the complex. The Bench observed that “till and until the character or nature of the place of worship or shrine is not determined, decided or ascertained, the purpose of the building is bound to be enveloped in mystery.” Moreover, “The detailed arguments at the Bar by all the contesting parties fortify the court’s belief and assumption that the nature and character of the whole monument admittedly maintained by the Central government needs to be demystified and freed from the shackles of confusion.” The Archaeological Survey of India undertook a detailed survey and assessment as a result, their report in ten volumes released in 2024. The finding are currently being digested and despite claims made in the press, no definitive conclusions reached and no review of the ASI report published in the scholarly literature.